Moving computer displayable content into a preferred user interactive focus area

ABSTRACT

A system for displaying content, such as a computer&#39;s displayed desktop, to a user such that remote content may be easily accessed, is presented. An exemplary display system includes a preferred interaction area through which the user interacts with the displayed content. The display system detects a user&#39;s reposition action and repositions the displayed content on the display system according to the detected reposition action. A user may reposition any portion of the displayed content to any location within the preferred interaction area. That portion of the displayed content falling outside of the preferred interaction area is displayed according to the available display area outside of the preferred interaction area. The displayed content outside of the preferred interaction area may be scaled according to the available display area. Display areas uncovered by repositioning the displayed content may be displayed with empty space.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/952,522,filed Sep. 28, 2004, which claims the benefit of Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/549,481, filed Mar. 2, 2004, the entire disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Over the past few years, numerous types of display systems, attached tocomputers and computing systems, have become increasingly more availableand commonplace, such as wall-sized display systems, pen- andtouch-operated display systems, multi-monitor display systems, and thelike. On such display systems, users often encounter difficulties whenaccessing certain displayed content (called target acquisition),especially when the desired content is relatively remote from the user'scurrent position or reach, or displayed on a display unit that is notinteractive. For example, on wall-size display systems, a user may needto walk, or even climb a ladder, in order to access certain contentdisplayed in a remote location. As another example, a tablet computerwith a touch sensitive screen, with which a user interacts via aconforming pen or stylus, is often connected to a second displaymonitor, such as a CRT monitor, that is not touch sensitive. If the userwishes to switch from working on content currently displayed on thetablet computer to working on content displayed on the second displaymonitor, i.e., the CRT monitor, the user must switch user-interactionparadigms by switching from a stylus to a mouse, locating the mouse'scorresponding cursor, moving the cursor to the target content, andinteracting with the content of the second display monitor now using themouse.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, rather than having largedisplay areas, computer systems, and their corresponding software, havehistorically focused on displaying content that is larger than thedisplay area. For instance, large documents, pictures, and spreadsheetsare displayed in windows/views, where only a portion of the content isvisible. To make other portions visible, the window/view typicallyincludes a scrolling mechanism, such as scroll bars, for moving portionsof the content into the window/view. Unfortunately, only a portion ofthe content is ever visible. Furthermore, the content is only scrolledso far as the extent of the content becomes visible. A computer'sdesktop, i.e., the entire displayed content of the computer system, mayalso be larger than the displayable surface, especially for notebook andtablet computers, or for personal digital assistants (PDAs.) When thedesktop is larger than the displayable surface, the computer systemprovides for scrolling the undisplayed portions into the displayablesurface, typically by trying to move the cursor beyond the edge of thedisplayable surface. However, just as with a large documents andpictures, the desktop stops scrolling when the furthest extent of thedesktop is scrolled/displayed on the displayable surface.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, content visibility does not implyeasy accessibility, especially in regard to display systems such as thewall-sized units, or multi-unit display systems that use disparate inputmechanisms per display unit. In light of these and other issues found inthe prior art, what is needed is a system and method for facilitatingthe access of remotely displayed content. The present inventionaddresses these and other issues found in the prior art.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features ofthe claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid indetermining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In accordance with aspects of the present invention, a method forrelocating desktop content on a display system, implemented on acomputer system including a display system with a defined preferredinteraction area, is presented. A reposition action is detected. Thereposition action indicates that the desktop content is to berepositioned with respect to the preferred interaction area. The desktopcontent is repositioned according to the detected reposition action,such that a portion of the desktop content previously outside of thepreferred interaction area is now located within the preferredinteraction area. The desktop content falling outside of the preferredinteraction area is displayed according to the available display areaoutside of the preferred interaction area.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, acomputer-readable medium bearing computer-executable instructions ispresented. When executed on a computer system including a display systemwith a defined preferred interaction area, the computer-executableinstructions carry out a method for relocating desktop content on thedisplay system. A reposition action is detected. The reposition actionindicates that the desktop content is to be repositioned with respect tothe preferred interaction area. The desktop content is repositionedaccording to the detected reposition action, such that a portion of thedesktop content previously outside of the preferred interaction area isnow located within the preferred interaction area. The desktop contentfalling outside of the preferred interaction area is displayed accordingto the available display area outside of the preferred interaction area.

In accordance with yet further aspects of the present invention, acomputer system for displaying desktop content to a user is presented.The computer system comprises a user interaction means. The userinteraction means detects repositioning actions from a user, permittingthe user to control the repositioning of the desktop content displayedon a display system. The computer system further comprises a displaysystem for displaying the desktop content. The display system includes apreferred interaction action area within which the user interacts withthe desktop content via the user interaction means. The computer system,upon detected a repositioning action from a user, repositions thedesktop content according to the detected repositioning action. Thedesktop content is repositioned such that a portion of the desktopcontent previously outside of the preferred interaction area is nowlocated within the preferred interaction area. The desktop contentfalling outside of the preferred interaction area is displayed accordingto the available display area outside of the preferred interaction area.

In accordance with still further aspects of the present invention, adisplay system for displaying content to a user is presented. Thedisplay system includes a preferred interaction area and a userinteraction means. The preferred interaction area is a subset of thedisplay area of the display system. A user interacts with the displaysystem to reposition the content through the preferred interaction area.A user interacts with the display system in the preferred interactionarea via the user interaction means. When the display system detects arepositioning action from a user, the content within the display systemis repositioned accorded to the detected repositioning action, such thata portion of the displayed content previously outside of the preferredinteraction area is now located within the preferred interaction area.The content falling outside of the preferred interaction area isdisplayed according to the available display area for displaying contentoutside of the preferred interaction area.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are pictorial diagrams illustrating exemplary displaysystem environments suitable for implementing aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram illustrating an exemplary display contenton a display system according to aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the display system and sampledisplay content of FIG. 1 after the sample display content has beenscrolled/relocated to the right in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the display system and sampledisplay content of FIGS. 2 and 3 after having been furtherscrolled/relocated in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the display system and sampledisplay content of FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 after the sample display contenthas been scrolled/relocated toward the top of the display system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the display system and sampledisplay content of FIG. 5 for moving objects in the displayable content;

FIG. 7 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the display system and sampledisplay content of FIG. 6 after the sample display content has beenscrolled/relocated while “holding” a selected object during therelocation process;

FIG. 8 is a pictorial diagram illustrating displayable content in adisplay system after the content has been repositioned within thedisplay system with a portion of the content falling outside of thepreferred interaction area scaled up and another portion of the contentscaled down; and

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary routine forrepositioning and displaying displayable content on a display systemaccording to aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to aspects of the present invention, a display system adaptedaccording to the present invention includes a preferred interactionarea. The preferred interaction area is that portion of the displaysystem through which the user interacts with the displayable content,such as a computer desktop or document. Preferably, the preferredinteraction area is conveniently located and accessible to the user.FIGS. 1A and 1B are pictorial diagrams illustrating exemplary displaysystems suitable for implementing aspects of the present invention, eachincluding a preferred interaction area.

With regard to FIG. 1A, the exemplary display system 100 includes atablet computer 102 and an external monitor 104. For this example, thepreferred interaction area 106 of the display system 100 corresponds tothe input/display area of the tablet computer 102.

With regard to FIG. 1B, the exemplary display system 150 includes anotebook computer 152 connected to a multi-monitor wall display unitthat includes monitors 154-164. In this exemplary system 150, thepreferred interaction area 166 corresponds to the display area of thenotebook computer 152. Thus, as can be seen in this example, thepreferred interaction area 166 is duplicated, found on both the notebookcomputer 152 and on monitor 162.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the preferred interaction area isfrequently, but not always, substantially smaller than the entiredisplay surface of the display system. Thus, according to aspects of thepresent invention, when a user wishes to interact with content notcurrently located within the preferred interaction area (in other words,remote content) the user causes the displayed content to reposition(scroll) until the remote content is located within the preferredinteraction area.

According to aspects of the present invention, displayable content, suchas the computer desktop, may be positioned with respect to the preferredinteraction area using a variety of user interactions, including, butnot limited to, mouse/pointer movements or panning, key presses, andactivating related scroll bars, as well as numerous combinationsthereof. Panning refers to the combination of pressing or “clicking” aselection button on a user interaction device, such as a mouse and,while maintaining the selection, moving the mouse (or other interactiondevice) to scroll or reposition the displayable content in the displayarea. Additionally, as will be described below, user interactions may beassociated with incremental or absolute repositioning of the displayablecontent.

In regard to incremental movement, according to aspects of the presentinvention, during repositioning, the displayable content may be moved inpredetermined amounts. These amounts range from single pixels up to anysuitable/desirable size. Repositioning the displayable content insmaller increments may provide a smoother, or continuous, scrollingaffect. According to further aspects, the amount of incremental movementmay be scaled with regard to the user's action. For example, a movementof 1 pixel in a cursor drag operation may correspond to moving thedisplayable content 10 pixels. Scaling the movement of the displayablecontent with respect to the user's interaction may assist a user to morequickly access remotely displayed content.

According to aspects of incremental scrolling, the displayable contentmay be divided into regions, such as regions corresponding to the sizeof the preferred interaction area. For example, with reference to FIG.1B, the displayable content may be divided into six regions, eachcorresponding to the size of a display monitor. Thus, by invoking thepredetermined reposition action, such as pressing a user-definedfunction key or combination of keys, the displayable content is moved byregions, such that an adjacent region is scrolled into and displayed inthe preferred interaction area.

As to absolute repositioning, targets identifying specific locations inthe displayable content may be defined, and the invocation of aparticular action or shortcut causes the corresponding target to berepositioned within the preferred interaction area. For example, in oneembodiment, a user may right click on the desktop, thereby bringing up acontext menu that contains an item for relocating regions of the screen.Activating that item brings up a small, grid representation of theentire screen and permitting the user to select an region of the screen.Selection of that region then causes the desktop to be repositioned suchthat the selected portion of the screen resides within the preferredinteraction area 166.

It should be understood, however, that there are numerous userinteraction means for directing the repositioning of the screen, and theabove example should be viewed as illustrative, and not construed aslimiting upon the present invention. Additionally, it should be furtherappreciated that in any given embodiment, both absolute and incrementalrepositioning may be available and desirable.

While the above examples have implicitly described the preferredinteraction area 166 as remaining in the same location with respect tothe display surface, according to one embodiment, the location of thepreferred interaction area 166 with respect to the display surface isuser configurable. For example, with regard to the above example ofright clicking to bring up a context menu for repositioning thedisplayable content, the mouse coordinates at the time of the rightclick could be utilized to specify the preferred interaction area. Thus,by selecting a region from the grid, the preferred interaction areacould be selectively repositioned on the display device, as well asrelocating that selected portion of the display area into the newlyrelocated preferred interaction area. Alternatively, in variousembodiments of the present invention, the displayable content or thepreferred interaction area may be relocated separately. Accordingly, itshould be appreciated that the preferred interaction area should not beconstrued as constrained to any particular region, nor should thepresent invention be construed as maintaining the preferred interactionarea 166 fixed in a particular location on the display device.

One aspect associated with repositioning displayable content on thedisplay system, especially when the size of the displayable contentcorresponds to the displayable surface area of the display system, isthat the displayable content may be scrolled/repositioned withoutlimiting its movement to the extents of the display surface. In otherwords, in most window/view paradigms, objects located at the extent ofthe displayable content can be scrolled only until they become visiblewithin the window in which they are displayed. Similarly, a computerdesktop, whose size is larger than the displayable area of the displaydevice upon which it is displayed, can scroll or pan only until thefurthest extent of the desktop becomes visible. In contrast, accordingto aspects of the present invention, a user may reposition any portionof the displayable content into the preferred interaction area,irrespective of the extents of the displayable content and displaysurface/area.

To accommodate the ability to reposition displayable content within thepreferred interaction area, in one embodiment, empty space iscreated/displayed in the void between the maximum extent of thedisplayable content and the boundaries of the display system. Thisaspect of the present invention is illustrated below in regard to FIGS.2, 3, and 4.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are pictorial diagrams illustrating an exemplarydisplay system 200, adapted according to the present invention, forfilling the area between the extent of the display content and theextent of the display system with empty space. While the exemplarydisplay system 200 is illustrated as a single entity, it is forillustration purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting uponthe present invention. For example, the display system 200 may be asingle, wall sized display unit or, alternatively, the display systemcould be a multi-monitor display system, such as the multi-monitordisplay system 150 illustrated in FIG. 1B.

As shown in FIG. 2, the displayable content 202, including icons206-216, fills the entirety of the display system 200, with a portion ofthe content, specifically icon 210, falling within the preferredinteraction area 204. It should be noted that while the preferredinteraction area 204 is indicated with dashed lines, it is forillustration purposes only. In an actual embodiment, the preferredinteraction area 204 may or may not be delineated by visible boundarylines.

FIG. 3 also illustrates the display system 200 shown in FIG. 2, butafter a user has repositioned the displayable content 202 within thedisplay system. In particular, that area of the displayable content 202that resided to the left of the preferred interaction area 204 in FIG. 2is repositioned such that it is now relocated (in FIG. 3) into thepreferred interaction area. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 3, the space220 between the extent of the displayable content 202 and the extent ofdisplay system 200 is filled, or backfilled, with empty space.

As information is repositioned within the display system, quitefrequently more displayable content will fall to one side of thepreferred interaction area than can fit in a normal display mode. Thus,according to one embodiment of the present invention, when there is moredisplayable content to a side of the preferred interaction area than canbe displayed in its normal scale, that portion of the displayablecontent is compressed, or scaled, such that it can be displayed in theavailable space on that side of the preferred interaction area. Withregard to FIGS. 2 and 3, the portion of the displayable content 202 thatis “pushed” to the right of the preferred interaction area cannot bedisplayed in a normal scale in the available display area. Consequently,that portion of the displayable content 202, including icons 210, 212,and 214 have been scaled down from their original size to fit within theavailable display area.

One of the benefits of backfilling with empty space, and scalingdisplayable content falling outside of the preferred interaction area204, is that the displayable content, even if inaccessible, i.e.,falling outside of the preferred interaction area, is still visible andprovides the user with important contextual information, especially forthat portion of the displayable content outside of the preferredinteraction area. Additionally, when scaling the displayable content202, the spatial arrangement of the items in the displayable contentare, at least partially, preserved.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is a movement icon 218. The movement icon 218represents a visual indication that the displayable content 202 is beingrepositioned. However, in at least one embodiment, a movement icon 218is not displayed as the displayable content 202 is repositioned. Thus,the presence of the movement icon 218, as well as the shape thereof,should be viewed as illustrative only, and not construed as limitingupon the present invention.

As indicated above, according to aspects of the present invention, thedisplayable content 202 may be repositioned such that any portion of thedisplayable content may be located at any position within the preferredinteraction area. In this regard, FIG. 4 illustrates that thedisplayable content 202 is further repositioned towards the right of thedisplay system 200 such that only icon 216 remains fully within thepreferred interaction area 204. Correspondingly, that portion of thedisplayable content that falls entirely outside of the preferredinteraction area 204 is scaled according to the available display area.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when an object,such as icon 206 reside partially within the preferred interaction area204, the entire icon is displayed in an unscaled manner. As shown inFIG. 4, the displayable content 202 is repositioned such that icon 206is only partially within the preferred interaction area 204. However, ascan be seen, because icon 206 is located, at least partially, within thepreferred interaction area 204, the entire icon 206 is displayed in anunscaled manner. In an alternative embodiment, objects, such as icons,displayed partially within the preferred interaction area 204 arepartially scaled, i.e., those portions falling outside of the preferredinteraction area are scaled according to the available display area.

As can be seen, according to aspects of the present invention,displayable content 202 that falls within the preferred interaction area204 is displayed at its normal scale.

While FIGS. 2-4 illustrate horizontal movements, the user is no soconstrained: the displayable content can be repositioned in anydirection so long as a portion of the displayable content 202 remainswithin the preferred interaction area. As shown in FIG. 5, a user mayreposition the displayable content 202 towards the top of the preferredinteraction area 204. Correspondingly, that portion of the displayablecontent 202 falling outside of the preferred interaction area 204 isscaled both horizontally as well as vertically.

According to further aspects of the present invention, a user may takeadvantage of the repositioning abilities of the present invention torelocate objects within the displayable content. FIGS. 6 and 7 arepictorial diagrams illustrating the display system 200 and displayablecontent 202 of FIG. 5 for relocating an object within the displayablecontent. As shown in FIG. 6, a user selects an object, such as icon 216,for relocation, and causes the displayable content 202 to begin toreposition/scroll. Invocation the repositioning of the displayablecontent 202 may be made in any number of ways, including combinations offunction keys and mouse button presses, and the like. As previouslyshown, a repositioning icon 218 may be used to illustrate the user'sdesired direction with respect to repositioning the displayable content202.

Selecting, or “holding,” an object, such as icon 216, for repositioningpurposes creates the appearance of temporarily fixing the held object inthe preferred interaction area 102 while the displayable content 202 isrepositioned. According to additional aspects of the present invention,when an object is temporarily fixed or held in the preferred interactionarea 102 while repositioning the displayable content 202, some visualindication may be provided to indicate the “fixed” nature of the object.As an example, in FIG. 6 the header area 222 of the “held” icon 116 istemporarily visually modified. When the object is released, the objectis again displayed in a normal manner.

Typically, the held object will remain fixed with respect to thepreferred interaction area 204 until the user releases the object, suchas by releasing a pressed button or key. Releasing the held object willalso likely correspond to ending the repositioning of the displayablecontent 202. FIG. 7 is a pictorial diagram illustrating the displaysystem 200 and displayable content 202 of FIG. 6 after having releasedicon 216. As shown in FIG. 7, icon 216 stayed in its fixed, “held”,position with respect to the preferred interaction area 204, and is nowlocated in a different location within the displayable content 202.

While the examples described above indicate that empty space may be usedto backfill some areas when displayable content 202 is repositioned,there are alternatives also contemplated by the present invention. Forexample, according to an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, when the amount of displayable content to one side of thepreferred interaction area 204 will not fill the available display areaon the display system 200 at its normal scale, that portion of thedisplayable content 202 that lies on that side of the preferredinteraction area is scaled up to fill the available display area. Inother words, the displayable content is scaled up from its normal sizeto fill the available space. Conversely, when the size of thedisplayable content to one side of the preferred interaction area isgreater than the available display area, the display content to thatside of the preferred interaction area is compressed, i.e., scaled down,to fit into the available display space. FIG. 8 is a pictorial diagramillustrating the displayable content 202 after having been repositionedwithin the display system 200, with a portion of the displayable contentscaled up to fill the area outside of the preferred interaction area204, and another portion of the displayable content scaled down. Stillother alternatives for displaying repositioned displayable content 202in a display system 200 are available. For example (not shown), when thesize of the displayable content 202 to one side of the preferredinteraction area 204 is greater than the available display area, thedisplayable content to that side of the preferred interaction area maybe clipped or panned, i.e., displayed to the extent possible in theavailable display area without scaling the displayable content.Alternatively, the displayable content 202 may be conceptually fixed ona sphere, a portion of the sphere being displayed by the display system200, and repositioning the displayable content 202 is simply a matter ofrotating the sphere with respect to the preferred interaction area 204.One may alternatively conceptualize this sphere as a “wrap-around” typeof repositioning, where information not displayable to one side of thepreferred interaction area 204 is wrapped around the other side and usedto fill in those areas vacated by the repositioning.

In addition to directly repositioning the displayable content withrespect to the preferred interaction area 204, it is often quite usefulto provide functionality to return the displayable content to itsnormal, original position, i.e., where the displayable content justfills the entirety of the display system without the necessity ofscaling, backfilling, clipping, etc. For example, in one embodiment,when a user selects and moves a window on the displayable content, suchas by using a click and drag operation, the displayable contentrepositions itself to its original position. Similarly, the userinteractions may also be used to reposition the displayable content toits original position, and the present invention should not be construedas limited to any one user interaction.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary routine 900for repositioning and displaying displayable content 202 on a displaysystem 200 in accordance with aspects of the present invention.Beginning at block 902, a user's indication that the displayable content202 is to be repositioned is detected. As discussed earlier, a user mayindicate (or initiate) a reposition of displayable content through anynumber of actions.

At decision block 904, a determination is made as to whether an objectdisplayed in the preferred interaction area is held by the repositioningaction. If an object is held, at block 906, the held object istemporarily fixed at its current location in the preferred interactionarea 102. Thereafter, or if an object is not held, at block 908 thedisplayable content 202 is repositioned according to the user'sdirection. As previously discussed, the content may be repositioned inan incremental or absolute fashion. If it is incremental, thedisplayable content is moved a determined amount. Alternatively, if therepositioning is absolute, the displayable content 202 is repositionedaccording to the defined, absolute position in the display system 200.

After having repositioned the displayable content 202 according to theuser action that initiated the repositioning, at block 910, thedisplayable content is displayed on the display system 200 to reflectits new/current position.

After having updated the display of the display system 200, at decisionblock 912 (FIG. 9B), a determination is made as to whether to continuethe scrolling process. Continuing the scrolling process is moreapplicable to incremental repositioning, and less so to absoluterepositioning. For example, assuming the repositioning was initiated, atleast in part, using a mouse button, if the mouse button remainspressed, this may be an indication that the scrolling process shouldcontinue, and the process returns to block 908 where the displayablecontent 202 is moved more. Alternatively, if the mouse button has beenreleased, then in the example above, no additional scrolling should takeplace. Once it is determined that no additional scrolling is to be made,at decision block 914, a determination is made as to whether an objectwas initially held. If an object was held, at block 916, the held objectis relocated in the displayable content 202 to the location immediatelyunderneath the held object in the preferred interaction area 102.Thereafter, or if there was no held object, the routine 900 terminates.

While various embodiments, including the preferred embodiment, of theinvention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciatedthat various changes can be made therein without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. In a computer system having a display system displaying desktopcontent and having a defined preferred interaction area on the displaysystem in which the user interacts with the computer system, wherein thedisplay surface is larger than the preferred interaction area, a methodfor relocating the desktop content on the display system, the methodcomprising: detecting a reposition action indicating that the desktopcontent is to be repositioned with respect to the preferred interactionarea; repositioning the desktop content of the entire computer systemaccording to the detected reposition action, such that a portion of thedesktop content located outside of the preferred interaction area priorto the reposition action is repositioned and displayed within thepreferred interaction area; and displaying the desktop content fallingoutside of the preferred interaction area according to the availabledisplay area.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the desktopcontent falling outside of the preferred interaction area according tothe available display area comprises selectively displaying a portion ofthe desktop content in a scaled manner or clipping the desktop contentfalling outside of the preferred interaction area according to theavailable display area for that portion of the desktop content.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein displaying the desktop content fallingoutside of the preferred interaction area according to the availabledisplay area comprises displaying the desktop content in an unscaledmanner and clipping that portion of the desktop content that extendsbeyond the available display area.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereindisplaying the desktop content falling outside of the preferredinteraction area according to the available display area comprisesdisplaying representative empty space in display areas that the desktopcontent no longer covers.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinrepositioning the desktop content according to the detected repositionaction comprises repositioning the desktop content in an incrementalmanner according to a predetermined increment.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein repositioning the desktop content according to the detectedreposition action comprises repositioning the desktop content in anabsolute manner, such that a predetermined portion of the desktopcontent is positioned to a specific location in the preferredinteraction area.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the desktop contentfills the entire display area of the display system when the desktopcontent is unscaled.
 8. A computer system for displaying desktop contentto a user, the computer system comprising: a user interaction means fordetecting a repositioning action from a user, and for controlling therepositioning of desktop content displayed on a display system; and alogical display surface, the logical display system having a preferredinteraction area through which a user interacts with the desktop contentin the logical display surface via the user interaction means, whereinthe logical display surface, when unscaled, comprises an area greaterthan preferred interaction area; wherein the computer system, upondetecting a repositioning action from a user: repositions the logicaldisplay surface according to the detected repositioning action, suchthat a portion of the logical display surface previously outside of thepreferred interaction area is now located within the preferredinteraction area; and displays that portion of the logical displaysurface falling outside of the preferred interaction area according tothe available display area.
 9. The computer system of claim 8 comprisinga plurality of display devices, and wherein the logical display surfacecorresponds to the display areas for the plurality of display devices.10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein displaying that portion ofthe logical display surface falling outside of the preferred interactionarea according to the available display area comprises displaying aportion of the logical display surface in a scaled manner according tothe available display area for that portion of the logical displaysurface.
 11. The computer system of claim 8, wherein displaying thatportion of the logical display surface falling outside of the preferredinteraction area according to the available display area comprisesdisplaying empty space in the display area that the logical displaysurface no longer covers.
 12. The computer system of claim 8, whereindisplaying that portion of the logical display surface falling outsideof the preferred interaction area according to the available displayarea comprises displaying the logical display surface in an unscaledmanner and clipping that portion of the logical display surface thatextends beyond the available display area.
 13. The computer system ofclaim 8, wherein repositioning the logical display surface according tothe detected repositioning action comprises repositioning the logicaldisplay surface in an incremental manner according to a predeterminedincrement.
 14. The computer system of claim 8, wherein repositioning thelogical display surface according to the detected repositioning actioncomprises repositioning the logical display surface in an absolutemanner, such that a predetermined portion of the logical display surfaceis positioned to a specific location in the preferred interaction area.15. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the logical display surfaceequals the size of the entire display area of the display system whenthe logical display surface is unscaled.
 16. A display system fordisplaying content to a user, the display system comprising: a preferredinteraction area, the preferred interaction area comprising an area ofthe display system through which a user may interact with the displaysystem to reposition the logical display surface of the display system;and a user interaction means through which a user repositions thelogical display surface of the display system; wherein the displaysystem, upon detecting a repositioning action from a user: repositionsthe logical display surface within the display system according to thedetected repositioning action, such that a portion of the logicaldisplay surface previously outside of the preferred interaction area isnow located within the preferred interaction area; and displays the thatportion of the logical display surface falling outside of the preferredinteraction area according to the available display area for displayingcontent outside of the preferred interaction area.
 17. The displaysystem of claim 16, wherein displaying that portion of the logicaldisplay surface falling outside of the preferred interaction areaaccording to the available display area comprises displaying a portionof the logical display surface in a scaled manner according to theavailable display area for that portion of the logical display surface.18. The display system of claim 16, wherein the logical display surfacecorresponds to the display areas of a plurality of display devices, andwherein the preferred interaction area corresponds to the display areaof one of the plurality of display devices.